Auditioning for England

Posted by Jon Champion on 26/11/2009

Just over six months to the start of the World Cup - and with 23 spaces to fill in his squad for South Africa, where better for Fabio Capello to spend this Saturday afternoon than at Villa Park? ESPN's live game from the Barclays Premier League is Aston Villa versus Tottenham, and between them they supply 13 England contenders. The national team coach will get no better opportunity to distinguish the probables from the possibles.

Both teams have invested heavily in pursuit of a top 4 place. Villa's likely starting eleven cost £61 million to assemble, Tottenham's nearer £70 million. They value foreign flair yet trust more homespun talent too.

So there'll be a chance to evaluate the widemen. Will the in-form Lennon outshine the Villa trio of Milner, Downing and Ashley Young? And then there are the strikers. Can Emile Heskey muscle his way back into contention ahead of Peter Crouch...will Defoe's flurry of goals see off the challenge of the improving Agbonlahor? In midfield, Huddlestone and Jenas have an opportunity to shine. Amongst the defenders, Woodgate, Warnock and even Ledley King(if fit) will know that this is one of the more important England auditions.

It's heartening to see so much English talent on display in one Premier League fixture. And lower down the league structure, there are some diamonds being unearthed.

Rather than watch Liverpool fall out of the Champions League, I took myself off to Swindon on Tuesday night. Huddersfield were the visitors for a League One fixture, and having heard plenty from my co-commentator Joe Royle about the Terriers' leading scorer, I was looking forward to seeing 19-year-old Jordan Rhodes at first hand.

In fact he had few chances to add to his 13 goals as a fierce wind did its best to make constructive football impossible. Swindon adapted better and look to have uncovered a gem of their own in matchwinner Charlie Austin. Four months ago he was working as a brickie for his father's building company whilst banging in the goals for Wessex League side Poole Town. Having almost signed for Bournemouth, he was offered a trial by Swindon. Last weekend the 20 year old scored the winner on his full debut at Carlisle and followed that up with another decisive goal against Huddersfield.

No wonder there was quiet satisfaction etched across the face of Swindon chairman Andrew Fitton, for it was he who recommended Austin as a possible recruit. Fitton is no ordinary chairman. A successful businessman, he has studied for his coaching badges and specialises in common sense. He trusts Danny Wilson to handle affairs on the pitch, whilst off it, he and his boardroom colleagues are breathing life into a club neglected for too long by previous regimes that lost the trust of supporters.

On Saturday, Swindon go to Wrexham in the FA Cup, hoping that victory will earn a 3rd round pay-day against an Aston Villa or a Tottenham. Meanwhile, those two heavyweights have a few issues to settle themselves. There won't be too many of us neutrals inside Villa Park, but it's not a game to miss.

Fergie takes his seat for Rodwell audition

Posted by Jon Champion on 20/11/2009

The initial expectation was that as the audience settle into their Old Trafford seats at tea-time on Saturday, the conductor would be among them in the stalls rather than taking up his traditional position in the orchestra pit.

Musicians often claim they’d be better off without the man with the baton. Until the FA’s clarification of when – and against whom – Sir Alex Ferguson will serve his touchline ban – this weekend’s ESPN live game against Everton was expected to be Manchester United’s chance to show the same could apply in football. As it is, the Scot will now sit in the posh seats at Portsmouth and for the Carling Cup quarter-final against Tottenham.

When the Old Trafford overlord’s banishment does kick in, it probably won’t alter too much out on the pitch. After all, his glowering stare can instil fear from long range as well as short. I just hope the ground authorities can find him a seat, unlike Arsene Wenger at Old Trafford earlier in the season.

Ferguson’s diversionary tactics have been much in evidence in recent weeks. Alan Wiley is not the only referee to find himself used as a public target, when in private, the manager’s ire will have been directed at players who have fallen short. The Wiley outburst directed attention away from Ben Foster’s shaky display in the home draw with Sunderland - Andre Marriner’s “inexperience” in big games was brought up rather than the capitulation of the United centre-backs following the setback at Liverpool. Then, at Stamford Bridge, Martin Atkinson was criticised in the wake of an unlucky defeat by Chelsea.

In the last case, I can find some sympathy. Darren Fletcher was harshly penalised for a challenge on Ashley Cole, and from the free-kick, a combination of John Terry and Nicolas Anelka gave Chelsea an undeserved victory, and with it, a five point lead in the Barclays Premier League title chase.

Yet in defeat, I thought I detected signs of better things to come from the champions. Despite a healthy number of wins, their start to the season has been underwhelming. Only in the 5-0 dismissal of Wigan have they played with the swagger of seasons past, but history suggests that they usually start to move through the gears once the string of autumn international breaks is behind them.

That being the case, Saturday’s visit of Everton may be the starting gun in Manchester United minds for the real race to begin.

David Moyes will hope not. He’s been tormented by a cruel cast list of injured players including both his best defender, Phil Jagielka, and his most creative midfielder, Mikel Arteta. Set against that, the acquisitions of Sylvain Distin and Johnny Heitinga have made the sale of Joleon Lescott look a very good deal – and the arrival of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, although suspended this weekend, also offers plenty of hope for a brighter future.

Whether Jack Rodwell will be part of that Everton future has been a topic of hot conversation this week. All eyes will be on the 18-year-old as he strides out at what may prove to be his home ground in years to come.

I struggle to see that a move from Goodison to a supposedly bigger club is in his interests at the moment. Were it not for Everton’s injuries, he wouldn’t necessarily have been a regular this season, so what chance would he have of a starting place with Manchester United, Chelsea or any of his other reported suitors? Better to develop further under the sympathetic guidance of Moyes than languish in frustration on the fringes of a more sizeable squad.

However, Saturday’s match should give some indication of just how ready Rodwell really is. And watching on proudly will be his uncle, Tony, who works at Old Trafford on matchdays, relaying information to broadcasters covering the game around the world. He gets one of the best seats in the house to do his job, as, for this week at least, does Sir Alex Ferguson.

Can Mick "Make it Happen"?

Posted by Jon Champion on 05/11/2009

Even by the standards of Rafael Benitez over the past five years, the act of escapology now required by Liverpool if they're to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League is one of forbidding proportions. Lisandro's painfully late goal in the Stade Gerland wiped away the euphoria of Ryan Babel's wonderful drive and ensured the dissection of Benitez's stewardship of Liverpool will be no less intense as they approach ESPN's Monday night game against Birmingham.

The Spaniard regularly points to an abnormally long injury list by way of an excuse for a run of one win in the last eight matches. His critics question his strategy - or lack of it - in the transfer market. It's all too easy to pick holes in someone else's work, but the reliance on the two stellar talents of Gerrard and Torres does seem at best unwise and at worst irresponsible.

Birmingham should have beaten Manchester City last weekend. If Shay Given's penalty save from James McFadden was admirable, his diversion onto the post of a deflected shot by Christian Benitez was world-class. A display of similar resolve from Alex McLeish's Blues would ask serious questions of a Liverpool team which will again be lacking key components.

No such problems for Arsenal, who continue to carry all before them and feature in ESPN's Saturday teatime game at Molineux. Whilst Liverpool were suffering in Lyon, the Gunners were swaggering their way past AZ at the Emirates. They've scored in all 18 fixtures this season - 51 goals in total - and Arsene Wenger's apparently over-optimistic summer suggestion that they were ready to challenge meaningfully for the Premier League title is now looking factual rather than fanciful.

I still wonder whether they'll discover the pragmatic edge required by all champions. The loss of a two-goal lead at West Ham recently indicated they may not have found it yet. They are, though, far better without the ball compared to last season, and aesthetically, they're as pleasing on the eye as any of Wenger's works of footballing art down the years.

Facing them this weekend, a team who has manager has earned the nickname 'Magic Mick' amongst those who wear the Old Gold with vocal pride. Mick McCarthy is refreshingly straightforward in all he says and does and he seems to have found a club with similar values. There's nothing fancy about Wolves, so if they beat Arsenal for the first time in 30 years, it'll be down to determination and diligence. By the same rule that allowed Burnley to beat Manchester United and Wigan to see off Chelsea, they have a chance - and that's what makes the Premier League a compelling competition.

Win or lose, McCarthy will approach the post-match interviews with his usual mixture of dry wit and searing honesty. I was fortunate to spend two weeks of my life in his company back in 2000 when we were paired as a commentary team for the World Club Championship in Brazil. Whilst we had hoped for a posting in Rio, we were given a base in Sao Paulo, a city that made every other industrial wasteland in the world seem appealing by comparison.

Billeted in a hotel devoid of English-speaking staff or company, our only entertainment came from the hotel bar's solitary DVD, a recording of the 1998 charity concert held by 'The Five Divas', a dream team of songbirds comprising Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan, Shania Twain and the incomparable Aretha Franklin. When the local brew began to take effect, as it did on a nightly basis, the bartender would proudly put on his disc of Divas.

By the end of the fortnight, we knew every phrase and chord of every song - and the Divas made such an impression that they are still a subject of critical debate whenever we meet. One track in particular sticks in the mind, and a decade on, Mariah Carey's 'Make It Happen' resonates as a mantra for a manager breathing life into one of the country's grandest clubs.